LGBTQ activists and allies rally for transgender rights after Trump tweets new military ban

SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima leads a ‘Rally for Trans Justice’ at the Torch of Friendship in downtown Miami on Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender people could no longer serve in the U.S military. STEVE ROTHAUSsrothaus@miamiherald.com

SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima leads a ‘Rally for Trans Justice’ at the Torch of Friendship in downtown Miami on Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender people could no longer serve in the U.S military. STEVE ROTHAUSsrothaus@miamiherald.com

A day after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender people could no longer serve in the U.S. military, LGBTQ-rights group SAVE held an early evening rally in downtown Miami to protest.

Dozens of protesters attended the Rally for Trans Justice that took place 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Torch of Friendship at 301 Biscayne Blvd.

Speakers included SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima; SAVE co-founder Damian Pardo; South Florida trans activist Arianna Lint; and Walker Burttschell, a gay Marine who was kicked out of the service in 2003 and later shook President Barack Obama’s hand after the 2010 repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“To me, it was an emotional roller coaster,” Burttschell told protesters. “I thought we made it, us as a community, we as a community, we made it. And then yesterday I woke up to this rude tweet and I realized that we are in a different reality.”